ChessMan
01-18-2004, 13:41
At the GlockTalk Shooting Club meeting yesterday I got to test out the SRT Arms Hurricane suppressor on my M16 with 10-inch upper. Doug from SRT met the club at the range with many of his suppressors and sound metering equipment. I was able to test drive his latest wares, listen to them with no hearing protection, and record dB readings with various types of ammo. Results are below. (BTW, I'm not affiliated with SRT. I'm just someone looking for a decent .223 suppressor for target shooting in the desert.)
First off, the conditions were probably not optimal for the best dB reduction readings. It was a cold, windy day and our high temp of the day was 69. We did this in the morning so I would estimate the temp between 60 and 65. The range did not have a grassy surface as required for MIL-Spec testing. Instead the range surface was hard-packed dirt/gravel which reflects the sound well and probably (I'm guessing) accounted for slightly higher readings than one would obtain with a true MIL-Spec test.
We used two M16's. One had a 10.25" barrel with 1 in 9 twist. This upper I bought from Model 1 Sales. The other M16 had a 16" barrel.
We tested with 4 types of ammo: (1) Federal XM193 55g, lot #43; (2) IMI M193 55g (bought from Botach); (3) Winchester white box Q3131 (not Q3131A) 55g - this is an old batch from before Y2K that appears to be a "good lot"; and (4) Lake City M193 55g (I don't the origin).
Chronograph averages in FPS/Barrel-length for the above ammo:
Federal XM193 - 2647/10.25", 3143/14.5"
IMI - 2691/10.25", no figures for 14.5" or 16" barrel (I know I forgot to do something!)
Win Q3131 - 2821/10.25", 3148/14.5"
Lake City M193 - no figures, but I expect it to be close to the Federal XM193
We tested with the SRT Hurricane muzzle can. This is not a quick detach model, instead it screws onto the muzzle threads. It's a shade over 6 inches long making it compact. It looks pretty dang cool on a 10" barrel IMO.
http://members.cox.net/jbanks308/img/SRT_Hurricane.jpg
We tested with Doug's sound metering equipment. I'll have to let Doug comment on its specifics, but my understanding is that it meets MIL-STD-1474D. We placed the sensor exactly 1m to the left of the muzzle and 1.6m above ground.
dB readings with 10.25" barrel (average & standard deviation):
Federal XM193: 135.4 dB, 1.1 SD
IMI: 134.8 dB, 0.7 SD
Win Q3131: 134.0 dB, 0.6 SD
Lake City: 134.6 dB, 0.5 SD
We only tested the 16" barrel with IMI ammo. Here's the results:
IMI: 133.1 dB, 0.8 SD
In summary, the 10.25" barrel yielded about 135dB and the 16" barrel yielded about 133dB.
I also got to do some limited full-auto fire with no hearing protection. My general impression was that this was NICE! It wasn't whisper quiet, but it wasn't so loud that I needed to reach for the earmuffs after 1 mag.
I came away impressed with the SRT Hurricane. All I want is a reasonably priced can for my 10" upper that can withstand full-auto fire and doesn't require hearing protection. I'm putting my order in for one. ;f Also, I wasn't looking for a .308 suppressor but Doug demonstrated his .308 can on a bolt rifle. Very cool and quiet! I've got a Remington LTR that could use that. Hmmmm...
First off, the conditions were probably not optimal for the best dB reduction readings. It was a cold, windy day and our high temp of the day was 69. We did this in the morning so I would estimate the temp between 60 and 65. The range did not have a grassy surface as required for MIL-Spec testing. Instead the range surface was hard-packed dirt/gravel which reflects the sound well and probably (I'm guessing) accounted for slightly higher readings than one would obtain with a true MIL-Spec test.
We used two M16's. One had a 10.25" barrel with 1 in 9 twist. This upper I bought from Model 1 Sales. The other M16 had a 16" barrel.
We tested with 4 types of ammo: (1) Federal XM193 55g, lot #43; (2) IMI M193 55g (bought from Botach); (3) Winchester white box Q3131 (not Q3131A) 55g - this is an old batch from before Y2K that appears to be a "good lot"; and (4) Lake City M193 55g (I don't the origin).
Chronograph averages in FPS/Barrel-length for the above ammo:
Federal XM193 - 2647/10.25", 3143/14.5"
IMI - 2691/10.25", no figures for 14.5" or 16" barrel (I know I forgot to do something!)
Win Q3131 - 2821/10.25", 3148/14.5"
Lake City M193 - no figures, but I expect it to be close to the Federal XM193
We tested with the SRT Hurricane muzzle can. This is not a quick detach model, instead it screws onto the muzzle threads. It's a shade over 6 inches long making it compact. It looks pretty dang cool on a 10" barrel IMO.
http://members.cox.net/jbanks308/img/SRT_Hurricane.jpg
We tested with Doug's sound metering equipment. I'll have to let Doug comment on its specifics, but my understanding is that it meets MIL-STD-1474D. We placed the sensor exactly 1m to the left of the muzzle and 1.6m above ground.
dB readings with 10.25" barrel (average & standard deviation):
Federal XM193: 135.4 dB, 1.1 SD
IMI: 134.8 dB, 0.7 SD
Win Q3131: 134.0 dB, 0.6 SD
Lake City: 134.6 dB, 0.5 SD
We only tested the 16" barrel with IMI ammo. Here's the results:
IMI: 133.1 dB, 0.8 SD
In summary, the 10.25" barrel yielded about 135dB and the 16" barrel yielded about 133dB.
I also got to do some limited full-auto fire with no hearing protection. My general impression was that this was NICE! It wasn't whisper quiet, but it wasn't so loud that I needed to reach for the earmuffs after 1 mag.
I came away impressed with the SRT Hurricane. All I want is a reasonably priced can for my 10" upper that can withstand full-auto fire and doesn't require hearing protection. I'm putting my order in for one. ;f Also, I wasn't looking for a .308 suppressor but Doug demonstrated his .308 can on a bolt rifle. Very cool and quiet! I've got a Remington LTR that could use that. Hmmmm...
